How Similar Are “Progressives” and “Traditional Liberals”?

The rise of progressivism (i.e., identity liberalism) is an era-defining shift within the political left. Until recently, left-wing ideology had been dominated by traditional liberalism, which advocates for equality through persuasion and consensus-building across voting blocs.

More recently, progressivism has challenged this view, emphasizing political activism within, for example, racial and cultural identities. Differences between these factions have played out across social media (e.g., "cancel culture"), academics (e.g., "de-platforming" campus speakers), and electoral politics (e.g., "Establishment Democrats" vs. "The Squad" in the U.S. Congress).

While progressivism has been deemed the "successor ideology" by some on the left, no psychological measure has directly assessed the attitudes and behaviors that characterize a distinctly progressive worldview. Recently, Travis Proulx and colleagues (including this author) developed a measure–the Progressive Values Scale–that captures this difference.

In the first study, left-wing participants evaluated divisive social issues, and analyses of the responses revealed three clusters of distinctly progressive views: "Mandated Diversity" within institutional settings, "Cultural Appropriation Concerns," and "Public Censure" of different views. A final viewpoint, "Recourse to Existing Institutions," represented the traditionally liberal emphasis on consensus and gradual political change.

In a second study, the researchers were interested in assessing potential individual differences in responses to personality and values measures among individuals who maintain different left-wing worldviews.

A sample of American respondents found that advocates for "Mandated Diversity" were relatively agreeable but motivated to present themselves in an unrealistically positive light. Those who manifested "Cultural Appropriation Concerns" were associated with a preference for avoiding those with different values. Advocates for "Public Censure" were associated with a feeling of having a privileged understanding of the political right and a more negative view of oneself.

Conversely, those who advocated "Recourse to Existing Institutions" placed less emphasis on individuating moral beliefs and more emphasis on communal morality. Subsequent work examined other potential differences between progressive and traditional liberals.

For example, in one study conducted in the U.K., the researchers had progressive and traditional liberal participants generate prototypical images of a political ingroup and outgroup member and found that progressives generated particularly positive images of political ingroup members and particularly negative images of political outgroup members.

Another study documented that progressive individuals were not authoritarians, differing from traditional liberals more as a matter of ideological kind rather than extremist degrees.

Taken together, these studies hold a mirror to the contemporary left, reflecting divisions that appear to be further manifesting themselves across politics and society. It is hoped that this measure can be useful in understanding similarities and differences within the left.